This document discusses trends in starting a business globally based on data from the World Bank's Doing Business report. It finds that starting a business has become easier worldwide over the past decade, with the average time to start a business falling by about 13 days. Many economies have adopted online registration platforms, one-stop shops, and simpler forms of limited liability companies to streamline the process. Sub-Saharan Africa in particular has made major improvements by reducing the average time to start a business from 55 to 30 days. However, challenges remain regarding the functionality of online systems and one-stop shops in some places.

1. Starting a business

2. 2
What Starting a Business measures: time, cost,
paid-in minimum capital and procedures

3. 3
Where is starting a business easy?
What do many of those economies have in
common?
New Zealand
Canada
Singapore
Australia
Hong Kong SAR, China
Armenia
Macedonia FYR
Georgia
Rwanda
Azerbaijan
Global good practice
 Using online platforms
 Transparent data and registration
processes
 No or minimal minimum capital
requirement
 Creation of one stop shops
 Standardized forms
 No courts involved
 Fixed registration fee

4. Economies advancing the most toward the
frontier in starting a business over the past 5
years

5. 5
By region, Sub-Saharan Africa has shown the
greatest improvement in reducing time to start a
business
Time to start a business in Sub-Saharan Africa fell from 55 days to 30 days

6. Starting a business has
become easier across all
regions of the world
 The number of
economies with minimum
capital requirement has
been cut
 Globally, the average
time to start a business
has fallen by about 13 days
Over the past 5 years Doing Business
recorded 244 business registration
reforms in 135 economies
In 2012/13, 51 economies made it
easier to start a business, focusing on
simplifying companies registration
Among regions, Sub-Saharan Africa
has improved business start-up
processes the most, but still
entrepreneurs continue to face
significant challenges
What are the trends since 2009

7. Reforms: Introducing a Simpler Form of a Limited
Liability Company
In 2012–2013 alone, Greece, Lithuania, and Croatia introduced a new
form of LLC.
Greece adopted a new Law which introduced the category of “Private
Company” (IKE).
• Compared to EPE, entrepreneurs are not required to publish the
articles of association in the Government Gazette. Instead, these
can be posted online through the General Electronic Commercial
Registry (GENI).
• The involvement of a lawyer/notary is not obligatory for preparing
the articles of association and conducting the name search for IKEs.
• In addition, IKEs have no minimum capital requirement, whereas
the requirement for EPEs remains €4,500.
• More than 2,400 new IKEs were registered between July 2012 and
September 2013, compared with 1,939 EPEs.

8. Greece jumped from position 146 to position 36
in the ease of Starting a Business
 In 2012, Greece
introduced a
simpler type of
limited liability
company (private
company) that is
cheaper to
incorporate.
 In 2013, Greece
abolished the
minimum capital
requirement for
private companies.
Greece improved its
ranking in Starting a
Business by 110
positions.
8

9. Reforms: Introducing a Simpler Form of a Limited
Liability Company
• In September 2012, Lithuania introduced a new type of LLC—the
“Small Partnership”.
• It is a simpler form of LLC that can be founded by 1 to 10 natural
persons.
• Entrepreneurs need to deposit around $4,000 into a bank to form a
Private LLC (the most common form of LLC previously), while there
is no such requirement for a Small Partnership.
• Small Partnership: 4 procedures, 6.5 days, and costs $118.
As of October 22, 2013, there were 3,529 registered Small
Partnerships in Lithuania.

10. Reforms: Introducing a Simpler Form of a Limited
Liability Company
• Croatia amended its Companies Act on October 10, 2012,
introducing a new and simpler form of LLC called a “Simple LLC”
(JDOO).
• It is much cheaper to set up a JDOO, as the minimum required
capital is less than $2 and the lowest nominal amount of share
interest is less than $1. This requirement for the older category of
Private LLC is $3,571.
• Has fast gained popularity among entrepreneurs. A total of 8,407
Simple LLCs (JDOOs) were established between October 2012 and
September 2013, compared to 5,488 Private LLCs.

11. Reforms: Introducing or Improving Online
Services
Online business registration platforms make starting a business faster and
cheaper
32 17
47.5
15.4
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Economies without online systems (93) Economies with online systems (96)
Time (days)
Cost (% of GNIpc)
Time Cost

12. Reforms: Introducing or Improving Online
Services
Singapore: the Singapore
Accounting and Corporate
Regulatory Authority (ACRA)
introduced a one-stop business
services portal (Bizfile) in 2009.
Entrepreneurs complete name
search and business incorporation
in about 15 minutes, as well as
register with the Inland Revenue
Authority of Singapore (IRAS) for
the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
New Zealand: the online business
registration system provided by the
New Zealand Companies Office is
comprised into a single online
interaction:
1) Reserving the business name,
2) Completing the incorporation
application, and
3) Returning the signed consent
forms to the Companies Office.
Once consent has been given by the
Companies Office, the certificate of
incorporation is issued via e-mail in
just a few minutes.

13. Reforms: Introducing or Improving Online
Services
• In February 2012, Costa Rica launched Crear Empresa, an online
platform for registering incorporation charters and submitting
related documents. Previously, the incorporation charter was
registered by a notary public, and the standard approval time was
usually up to 25 days. The online platform reduced this approval
time to just 2 days.
• Guatemala launched its first online service for company name
search in May 2006. Later, in March 2013, it established a new
online portal, allowing registration of a new company with the
Commercial Registry, the Tax Authority, the Social Security
Institute, and the Ministry of Labor through a single electronic form.
Result: he time to start a business was reduced by 35.5 days in Costa
Rica and by 20.5 days in Guatemala.

14. Reforms: Introducing or Improving Online
Services
• Chile: in February 2011, established an obligation for the
Internal Revenue Service to authorize the use of electronic
invoicing, which eliminated the 16-day inspection period and
allowed businesses to commence operations upon the receipt
of the revenue identification number.
• Finally, in February 2013, Chile implemented a free online
portal for specific types of companies. Entrepreneurs can now
complete 3 of 7 business registration procedures online.
Result: the time required to start up a business in Chile was
reduced from 22 to 5.5 days.

15. Availability of One-Stop Shops for Starting a
Business
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Europe &
Central Asia
High income:
OECD
Sub-Saharan
Africa
Middle East &
North Africa
East Asia &
Pacific
Latin America
& Caribbean
South Asia
81
68
55
50
36
25
13
%ofcountriesintheregion

16. Côte d’Ivoire: launched a One Stop Center for business registration (CEPICI)
in December 2012, enabling entrepreneurs to register with the commercial
registrar, the tax authority, and the social security institute at the same time.
Result: halved the number of interactions between entrepreneurs and the
government agencies, cut the total time of business registration by 24
days and reduced the total cost from $1,430 to $542.
Reforms: Creating or Improving “One-Stop
Shops”
Guinea: in December 2011 launched a one-stop shop. It combined company
incorporation, obtaining a tax identification number, registering with social
security and paying related fees in 1 step. In May 2012, the OSS was enabled
to publish notices of incorporation of new companies on its website.
Result: the time it takes to register a business was cut nearly in half.

17. Minimum Capital Requirements by Region
In 2012/13, 8 economies either lowered or eliminated the minimum capital
requirement: Cape Verde, Croatia, Djibouti, Greece, Lithuania, the
Netherlands, Uzbekistan and West Bank and Gaza.

18. Minimum Capital Requirements and Access to
Finance

19. Minimum Capital Requirements and Informality

20. Starting a Business Global Trends
• Globally, it requires 7 procedures, 25 days and $1,067 on
average to start a business.
• According to Doing Business, 109 economies have introduced
online platforms for business registration over the past 10
years—more than 50% of the economies measured.
• As of June 2013, 96 economies had some type of one-stop
shop, and more than 50% of economies in ECA, OECD high-
income and SSA now operate one-stop shops to incorporate
businesses.
• Of the 189 economies profiled in Doing Business 2014, 99 do
not impose any minimum capital requirements on
entrepreneurs.

21. Actionable Recommendations – challenges
remain
• Online systems still not fully functional:
– Name Search only (Nepal)
– Sometimes, online payment is not offered and entrepreneurs have to
pay on-site (Philippines)
– Online systems crash or servers are down
– Low internet penetration and power cuts (Sierra Leone)
– Document pick-up is still done on-site, despite online registration
• One-Stop Shops still not fully functional or efficient:
– Egypt: entrepreneurs still have to visit many windows within the one-
stop shop
– Lack of integration among systems
– One stop shop is only a name…

22. 1. Introduction & Methodology
22
Entrepreneurship Database

23. 23
1.1 Why a dataset on entrepreneurship?
• To meet the demand of governments and policymakers
for:
 Diagnosis of private sector development and growth
 Monitoring and evaluation of policy reforms
 Data to motivate reforms to increase participation in the formal sector
• Baseline information for evaluating the impact of
business registration reforms
• To evaluate the impact of macroeconomic and financial
shocks on new firm registration

24. 24
1.2 What is Measured by the
Entrepreneurship database?
 How is entrepreneurship defined for the purpose of data collection?
The activities of an individual or a group aimed at carrying out
commercial activities in the formal sector under a legal form of business
 Units of Measurement
Private companies with limited liability. Notably, this is the same definition used
by the World Bank’s Doing Business report. It is also one of the most prevalent
business forms in most economies around the world.
 Variable of interest
Entry Density, is defined as the number of newly registered limited liability
companies per 1,000 working-age people (those ages 15–64)
 Source
Business registries and statistical offices

25. 25
1.3 Questionnaire & Data collection
Questionnaires:
 Number of newly registered limited liability firms, by year
 Questions about registration processes
 Translated into four languages (English, Spanish, French, Russian).
Data collection:
 Sent directly to data sources by email and fax
 Follow-up phone calls
 Data checking from outside sources, previous versions of WBGES
 Sent to over 150 countries and received 139 responses
 Comparable data for 139 countries.

26. 26
1.4 Final Data
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
0 20 40 60 80
EntryDensity
Informal Economy (% GDP)
Final Data Excludes:
 Informal Sector
Data not gathered, despite relevance
 Sole proprietorships, partnerships
Data not gathered, not uniform across countries
 Measures of active & closed firms
Data gathered but excluded because of reliability issues
due to different definitions / procedures
 Countries classified as offshore
financial centers by the IMF
Data gathered but excluded because some firms not
representative of entrepreneurship 
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Non offshore Offshore
EntryDensity

27. 2.Summary Statistics
27

28. 28
2.1 Summary Statistics, by region
2004-2012 averages
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
OECD economiesLatin America & CaribbeanEastern Europe & Central AsiaEast Asia & PacificSub Saharan AfricaMidddle East & North AfricaSouth Asia
EntryDensity(perthousandadults)

29. 29
2.2 Summary Statistics, by region
Entry rate over time
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Entrydensity(per1,000adults)
OECD LAC ECA SSA EAP World average MENA SAR

30. 30
4.6
5.5
1.6
2.0
0.1 0.5
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Entryrate(per1000adults)
High income Middle income Low income
2.3 Summary Statistics, by income group
Entry rate over time

31. 31
2.4 Firm registration

32. 32
2.5 Internet Registration
0
1
2
3
4
No internet
registration
Incomplete
internet
registration
Complete internet
registration
EntryDensity,2009

33. 33
2.5 Ease of Starting a Business and entry density
Panel A: Number of Procedures Panel B: Time (in days)
Panel C: Cost of starting a business
0
2
4
6
8
10
0 5 10 15 20
EntryDensity
Procedures to start a business
0
2
4
6
8
10
0 20 40 60 80 100
EntryDensity
Time to start a business
0
2
4
6
8
10
0 20 40 60 80 100
EntryDensity
Cost to start a business (% GNI)
0
2
4
6
8
10
0 50 100 150 200
EntryDensity
Ease of Doing Business Rank
Panel D: Ease of Business rank

34. 34
0%
50%
100%
150%
200%
250%
300%
t-4 t-3 t-2 t-1 t t+1 t+2
Percentofnewlyregisteredfirmscomparedtopre-
reformyear(t-1)
Implementation of Reform
Bangladesh Chile Kenya Morocco Sweden Rwanda
2.6 Impact of reforms

35. 35
www.doingbusiness.orgQuestions
Thank you!

36. ANNEX

37. Startup Trends by Income
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
High income Upper middle incomeLower middle income Low income
Cost
ProceduresandTime
Procedure (number) Time (days) Cost (% GNIpc)

38. Startup Trends by Region
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
East Asia &
Pacific
Europe &
Central Asia
High
income:
OECD
Latin
America &
Caribbean
Middle East
& North
Africa
South Asia Sub-Saharan
Africa
Cost
ProceduresandTime
Procedure (number) Time (days) Cost (% GNIpc)

39. Where is Starting a Business Easiest and where
Most Difficult?
Easiest RANK Most Difficult RANK
New Zealand 1 Bolivia 180
Canada 2 Suriname 181
Singapore 3 Congo, Rep. 182
Australia 4 Chad 183
Hong Kong SAR,
China
5 Cambodia 184
Armenia 6 Equatorial Guinea 185
Macedonia, FYR 7 Congo, Dem. Rep. 185
Georgia 8 Haiti 187
Rwanda 9 Eritrea 188
Azerbaijan 10 Myanmar 189

40. Why does formal business registration matter?
• Legal entities can outlive their
founders.
• Formally registered companies have
access to services and institutions
from courts to banks as well as to
new markets.
• Employees can also benefit from
protections provided by the law.
Simpler start-up procedures are
associated with a greater number of
legally registered companies
Simpler business registration associated
with greater employment opportunities in
the formal sector (e.g. Masatlioglu and
Rigolini, 2008)
Lower costs for business registration encourage
entrepreneurship and enhance firm productivity
(e.g. Klapper, Laeven and Rajan, 2006; Klapper and
Love 2011; Barseghyan 2008)
For the companyFor the economy

41. • A limited liability company or its legal equivalent.
If there is more than one type of limited liability company in the economy, the most
popular form among domestic firms is chosen.
• Operates in the economy’s largest business city.
• Is 100% domestically owned and has 5 owners, none of whom is a legal entity.
• Has start-up capital of 10 times income per capita, paid in cash.
• Performs general industrial or commercial activities, such as the production or sale to
the public of products or services.
It does not perform foreign trade activities and does not handle products subject to a
special tax regime, for example, liquor or tobacco. It is not using heavily polluting
production processes.
• Leases the commercial plant or offices and is not a proprietor of real estate.
• Does not qualify for investment incentives or any special benefits.
• Has at least 10 and up to 50 employees 1 month after the commencement of operations,
all of them domestic nationals.
• Has a turnover of at least 100 times income per capita.
• Has a company deed 10 pages long.
Case Study Assumptions

42. • Preregistration
o Checking the availability of the proposed company name
o Having a notary draft and notarize statutes
o Depositing minimum capital in a bank account
• Registration
o Application for incorporation
o Payment of fees
o Other procedures under the mandate of the commercial registry
• Postregistration
o Registering with tax authorities
o Obtaining a business license
o Enrolling employees in Social Security
o Buying and legalizing company books
o Obtaining a company seal
What Starting a Business measures
The Starting a Business indicator records every procedure required by law (de jure).
Procedures that are commonly done in practice are also recorded (de facto).

43. Pre-
registration, Registrati
on, and
Post-registration
procedures officially
required, or
commonly done in
practice.
Shortcuts are counted
only if they are:
- Legal
- Available to the
general public,
- Used by the
majority of
companies, and
- Avoiding them
causes substantial
delays.
Founders are assumed to complete all procedures themselves, unless
the use of a third party is mandated by law, or solicited by the
majority of entrepreneurs.
• Procedures that must be completed in the same building but in
different offices or counters are counted separately.
• If founders have to visit the same office several times for different
sequential procedures, each is counted separately.
• Each electronic procedure is counted separately. If 2 procedures
can be completed through the same website but require separate
filings, they are counted as 2 separate procedures.
• Procedures required for official correspondence or transactions
with public agencies (e.g. company seal, bank account) are also
included.
Methodology – Procedures (number)

44. • The minimum time required
for each procedure is 1 day.
• For procedures that can be
fully completed online, the
minimum time recorded is
half a day.
• If a procedure can be
accelerated for an additional
cost, the fastest procedure is
chosen if that option is more
beneficial to the economy’s
ranking.
• Although procedures may take place
simultaneously, they cannot start on the
same day (that is, simultaneous procedures
start on consecutive days), except if they can
be fully completed online.
• A procedure is considered completed once
the company receives the final incorporation
document, such as the company registration
certificate or tax number.
• It is assumed that the entrepreneur is aware
of all entry requirements and completes
them without delay.
Methodology – Time (calendar days)
The measure captures the median duration that incorporation lawyers indicate is necessary
in practice to complete a procedure with minimum follow-up with government agencies
and no extra payments.

45. Cost includes all official fees and
fees for legal or professional
services if such services are
required by law.
The company law, the
commercial code and specific
regulations and fee schedules
are used as sources for
calculating costs.
• In the absence of fee schedules, a
government officer’s estimate is taken as an
official source.
• In the absence of a government officer’s
estimate, estimates of incorporation lawyers
are used.
• If several incorporation lawyers provide
different estimates, the median reported
value is applied.
• Fees for purchasing and legalizing company
books are included if these transactions are
required by law.
Methodology – Cost (% GNI pc)
In all cases, the cost excludes bribes.

46. The paid-in minimum capital requirement reflects the amount that
an entrepreneur needs to deposit in a bank or with a notary before
registration and up to 3 months following incorporation.
• The amount is typically specified in the commercial
code or the company law.
• Some economies require minimum capital but allow
businesses to pay only a part of it before
registration, with the rest to be paid after or within
the first year of operation.
Methodology – Paid-in Minimum Capital
(% GNIpc)